Identifying Animations 8: The Sand Castle

"The Sand Castle" is a canadian stop-motion animated short directed by Co Hoedeman, released in 1977. The animation has won several international awards, as well as the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards, making it a successful and entertaining animation. As in stop-motion different props used consolidate a different visual aspect of scenery, "The Sand Castle" features foam rubber puppets and malleable figurines covered with sand, whose "limbs" are made with bendable wire from beneath, and along this technique of puppet making, the film also incorporates sand animation. Furthermore, the visual aspect of the animation is quite appealing as it is duo-chrome with two aesthetically complementary colors (blue and orange). Although the animation features no dialogue, the philosophical concept hides behind the whimsical flow of the plot. As it takes time for the humanoid character to create morphing animals from sand which then all work together to build a mini-civilization, the end of the animation signifies the meaning behind all the exuberance. Wind blows, and destroys the castle, which reverts the desert scenery back to its primal state (like the beginning of the animation), which provokes the audience to assume that after everything simmers down, the characters will resurface and continue the same cycle. In other words, the animation expresses a motive of existentialism: the absurdity and despair of monotony.

"The Sand Castle" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA0doO0vG-Q